Internal Damage
by McAbbyAddict
Summary: When a team member is injured on base, the rest of the team must investigate. Case fic, McAbby, COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: This is my first attempt at case fic. There will be McAbby in some chapters (there is a reason for my pen name). This story isn't complete, please bear with me. F**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, etc.**

McGee sighed as he finished off his case notes. This case had been a bit of an anti-climax; they'd been investigating the death of a petty officer in what appeared to be a training accident. Turned out that's all it had been, a training accident. He supposed they couldn't all be exciting, but cases like this were always a bit of a letdown. He closed the file he had in front of him and looked around. Tony was driving Ziva crazy with incessant movie trivia, and Gibbs was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Tony, have you seen Gibbs?"

"No, why Probie?"

"Just seeing what he wanted for lunch, is all Tony. My turn to do the lunch run, remember? I'll just get him the usual"

He got orders from Tony and Ziva, and then headed out to the parking lot. The cafe that they were getting lunch from today was out the other side of the Navy Yard. Letting his mind wander as he drove, he used the less travelled roads as a short cut.

Partway there, he noticed a crumpled figure against the kerb on the opposite side of the road

_Wait, that doesn't look good_ he thought to himself. Braking hard, he pulled the silver Porsche to the kerb and walked back to check out the shape in the gutter. The sun was in his eyes, but he could see splashes of red through the glare. Running the last couple of steps, he hunkered down next to the unconscious woman. One leg was twisted unnaturally underneath her, and there was blood everywhere. Suddenly he froze, taking in the platform boot on the uninjured leg, the short red and black skirt. Willing himself to be wrong, he turned the woman's head towards him.

It was Abby.

Panicking slightly, he felt her neck and was relieved to find a faint pulse. He watched for a second and realised she wasn't breathing. He yanked his cell out of his pocket and dialled 911. It felt like an eternity before the dispatcher came on the line

"This is Special Agent Timothy McGee. I need an ambulance sent to the Navy Yard immediately! I've got an unconscious woman here, and she's not breathing"

He gave the dispatcher directions; the Yard was a big place.

Desperately trying to remember his first aid training, he pinched Abby's nostrils closed and covered her mouth with his, watching her chest rise and fall as he tried to start her breathing again. It seemed to take forever, and he was becoming terrified that it wasn't going to work, when suddenly he caught the faint flutter of her chest as she took her own breath. Grabbing his cell phone again, he hit one of the speed dial buttons. She needed a doctor _now_

Gibbs was listening to one of Ducky's many stories when they were interrupted by the phone ringing. Ducky cut off in mid sentence and picked up the instrument

"Autopsy"

"Ducky, it's McGee. I need your help!"

"Certainly, McGee, what's wrong?"

"It's Abby, Duck; she's been in some kind of accident. I found her on the side of the road, unconscious. She wasn't breathing, Ducky! I did mouth to mouth and she is now... I've called 911 but I'm afraid she's not going to make it that long" He could hear raw panic in the young agent's words

"Calm down, Timothy. Where are you? I'll be there as soon as I can"

McGee gave him their location

"Can you call Gibbs, Ducky? Her leg's bleeding and I've gotta keep pressure on it"

"Not necessary, Timothy, he's here with me. Tend to Abigail, we'll be there soon"

Hanging up, he turned back to Gibbs

"What was that about, Duck?"

"Jethro, Abby has been injured, quite severely by the sounds of it. Timothy found her, and he needs our help"

As he spoke, he grabbed the large first aid kit they kept for emergencies

"Where are they, Duck?" he could see the fear in Gibbs' eyes as he answered

"Out in the Yard; one of the small roads off the main ring road"

"Let's go" he took the heavy first aid kit off Ducky as he spoke, half running out the Autopsy doors. He flicked open his cell as he headed for the elevator, pressing one of the speed dial buttons.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo"

"Grab your gear, DiNozzo, and get out front. Now, Tony" his tone didn't allow for any arguments

"Where are we going, Boss?" Tony asked

"Just get down here! Abby's been hurt"

. ***

Tony put down the receiver slowly, not quite believing what he'd heard. Wordlessly, he stood, grabbing his backpack from under the desk and stuffing his sidearm into its holster

"Get your stuff, Ziva, let's go!" he barked at the former Mossad officer

She gave him a quizzical look, but picked up her things just the same

"I do not understand, where is Gibbs?" she asked

"Don't have time to explain, move it David!" he bolted for the elevator, cursing as the display showed it was on another floor. He spun, nearly crashing into Ziva as he headed for the stairwell

Hard on his heels, Ziva asked "What is happening, Tony?"

"Abby's been hurt; we're meeting Gibbs out front. That's all I know" he said over his shoulder as he ran down the stairs.

Out of breath, they skidded to a halt in front of a worriedly pacing Gibbs and a concerned Ducky

"About time. Let's go!" they jumped into a waiting car and took off, tires squealing as Gibbs gunned the engine

"So what happened to Abby, Boss?" Tony asked

It was Ducky who answered

"McGee said he found her by the side of the road, unconscious and bleeding. She wasn't breathing, either. That's all we know at this point"

They found McGee kneeling next to a still unconscious Abby, using his wadded- up jacket to put pressure on her lower leg. His hands and blue dress shirt were covered in blood. He looked up in relief as they approached

"Thank God! Her breathing's all hinky, and I can't stop the bleeding" his voice trembled on the edge of panic

Ducky set down the first aid kit he was carrying and found a large dressing.

"Here, use this" he said, passing it to McGee. Tony flinched as McGee pulled his ruined jacket away from her leg, exposing the wound. The bone was clearly visible, even through the slow but steady ooze of blood. He quickly replaced the jacket with a proper dressing, using the heel of his hand to put pressure on it. Ducky tossed him an elastic bandage to tie the dressing in place, and then had to show him how to position it.

Ducky deftly felt the back of her neck, trying to figure out if she'd injured her neck at all. Satisfied that she hadn't, he turned to Gibbs

"Gibbs, can you help me turn her onto her side at all? We need to make it easier for her to breathe"

Gently they rolled her onto her less injured side and were rewarded by hearing her breathing become a little less laboured. They could hear sirens in the distance, drawing closer.

"How's the bleeding now, Timothy?" Ducky asked

"She's still bleeding, but not as much, Ducky" he replied. He looked up, noticing that Tony and Ziva had moved away and were scanning the road. They moved out of the way as the ambulance came speeding towards the little group, sirens screaming.

The EMTs quickly loaded Abby onto a gurney and put an oxygen mask on her face. Not wanting to alarm the team, Ducky gave the EMTs a quick run-down of her condition in a hushed voice.

Gibbs stood watching the paramedics load this adopted daughter into the waiting ambulance, then felt a touch on his arm. Turning, he found McGee at his elbow

"Boss?" Gibbs knew what he was being asked

"Go on, McGee, go with her. But let us know the minute you find something out, you hear me?"

"Thanks Boss" he clambered into the back of the waiting ambulance, the driver swung the door shut, and then they were off again, sirens still blaring.

"Duck?"

"I'm going to head to Bethesda, Jethro. I'll keep you posted"  
"Thanks, Duck" he gave the medical examiner the keys to the car, then turned back to the rest of his team

"We found skid marks and broken glass, Boss. Glass looks like it came from a car headlight. I think this was a hit and run" Tony explained.

"Right. Ziva, bag and tag. Tony, sketches and photos."

Figuring that the car would have made for the closest exit, he pulled out his cell and called the nearest gatehouse.

"Special Agent Gibbs here. One of my people has been injured here in the yard, looks like a hit and run. Have you had any cars with headlight damage exit in the last 30 minutes?"  
"Yes sir, one left about 20 minutes ago"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: My medical knowledge is patchy at best guys, so please ignore any errors I may have made**

The ride from the Navy Yard to Bethesda was mercifully short. It was the first time McGee had been in an ambulance, at least as a passenger not a patient anyway, and he was surprised at how rough it was. He had to cling to one of the overhead bars to stop himself from getting in the way. The EMTs constantly worked on Abby, checking her breathing, her pulse, her blood pressure and making sure the bleeding from her leg had finally stopped.

They pulled up in the ambulance bay in front of the emergency room. Immediately, the EMTs had the gurney out of the ambulance and rolling at high speed into the building. He trailed in their wake, listening as the paramedics fired descriptions and vital signs to the ER team

"Female, mid to late 20's, compound fracture of the lower left leg, possible multiple internal injuries. 911 call said she wasn't breathing, resuscitated before we got there, decreased breath sounds on the left. We scooped and ran"

"Has she regained consciousness?"

"No. Pulse is 120 and erratic"  
"Ok, we'll take it from here"

They wheeled her into a room, one of the nurses stopping him from following

"You can't come in here, sir"

"I came in with her... how is she?"

"We'll do everything we can. If you wait here, someone will come out in a few minutes and let you know what's happening" with that, she turned and entered the room.

"Timothy!" he heard his name called and turned, seeing Ducky hurrying towards him "How's Abigail?"

"They're working on her Ducky, they said if we wait here someone will tell us what's happening" he paused for a moment, watching the medical team work on Abby. "Please God, let her be ok"

They lost track of time as they stood waiting for an update from the medical staff; it seemed like hours, but it was only a few minutes before one of the doctors came up to them

"Are you here for Ms. Scuito?"

"Yes, we are" McGee answered "What's wrong with her?"

"Are you her husband, sir?"

"No, just a friend. Special Agent Timothy McGee" he flashed his badge "And this is Dr. Mallard"

"Ok. Ms. Scuito has multiple broken ribs, one of which punctured her lung, creating what's called a tension pnuemothorax- a collapsed lung. She also has internal bleeding, and a compound fracture of her left leg. We're about to send her up to the OR for emergency surgery, to re-inflate her lung and repair the internal bleeding. The 911 call said she wasn't breathing; do either of you know how long for?"

McGee shook his head "No, she wasn't breathing when I found her. It took me probably 2, maybe 3 minutes to get her to breathe on her own, but I don't know how long she was lying there for" his voice cracked at the memory.

"Oh, you called it in? Well, you did the right thing, Agent McGee. If you hadn't given her mouth to mouth when you did, she wouldn't have made it this far"  
McGee just nodded, caring more about how far she was going to make it

"Doctor, how long is Abigail going to be in surgery for?" Ducky asked

"It depends on the amount of damage, Dr. Mallard, but several hours. Look, I've got to go now. One of the staff will show you where you can wait, ok?"

He turned and called for someone over his shoulder. Quickly an orderly came up to them and led them upstairs to the OR waiting room

"You can wait here, there's tea and coffee down the hall. One of the surgical staff will let you know when they have news"

Left alone in the waiting room, McGee and Ducky sat in the uncomfortable chairs. McGee pulled out his cell phone to call Gibbs, before noticing the sign that read "No Cell Phones, Please". He looked around for a public phone, spotting one on the wall opposite the doors to the OR. He used it to call Gibbs, dialling the number from memory.

"Yeah, Gibbs"

"Boss, its McGee"

"McGee! How is she?"

"Not good, Boss. She's in surgery now; they said she has a collapsed lung and internal bleeding"

"How long?"

"They don't know Boss, they said it depends on how bad the bleeding is" he heard his voice crack on the last word and cleared his throat, fighting back tears "Any idea how she ended up out there?"

"Tony and Ziva found glass and tire tracks. Looks like a hit and run"

McGee clenched his jaw, feeling rage build up in him at Gibbs' words "You mean someone hit her and just left her there to die?"

"Yeah, McGee. We're waiting on a tech from Fornell to come pick up the evidence-"

McGee cut him off

"I'll do it, Boss"  
"Excuse me?"

"I'll do it. I'll come back and run the tests. I want to catch the bastard that did this to her" his voice shook with anger

"Ok, but leave Ducky there; I want word as soon as he's got any"

"Got it, Boss". He handed the phone to Ducky and left.

"Jethro, are you still there?"

"Yeah, Duck, what's up?"

"You need to go easy on that young man today, Gibbs" there was silence from the other end of the line "Jethro, you know as well as I do the depths of Timothy's feelings for Abby. He's not thinking clearly"  
He heard Gibbs sigh. While McGee never spoke of it, his love for Abby was an open secret amongst the team.

"I need him, Duck, for now anyway. I'll send him back out there as soon as I can"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ok, if reviews equal love, then I guess this story isn't going down as well as I'd like... here's chapter 3 because I had it written**

Back at NCIS headquarters, McGee went down to Abby's lab to start trying to find a match on the evidence that Tony and Ziva had collected. The lab was brightly lit, music still blaring. He half expected to walk in and see Abby working at her computer. He left the music going; it reminded him of her. Shaking his head to clear it, he inserted the SD card from Tony's camera into the card reader, bringing up the photos of the tire tracks. He set the computer program to search the relevant databases while he began running tests on the headlight glass.

He hoped he'd get a match on something quickly; the faster he got answers, the faster they could track down whoever did this to Abby. Plus, as much as he wanted to catch this dirt bag, he wanted to be there when Abby came out of surgery.

He sat at the computer bank with his head in his hands, thinking about Abby. He'd worked with her every day for over 7 years now; now he might never get the chance to do so again. She _had_ to be ok; he couldn't lose her. He'd never managed to get over Abby, even 8 years down the track. Why had he never told her that? Lost in his thoughts, he was startled when one of Abby's computers beeped. He looked up, excited. He had a match! He grabbed his cell phone and dialled

"Yeah, Gibbs"

"Boss, I got a match"

"Be right there"

Gibbs hung up and looked at the remainder of his team.

"McGee got a match"

He headed for the elevator, knowing they were at his back. They didn't really need to go downstairs to get the info, but he knew they couldn't stand sitting around while Abby's life hung in the balance. As if that wasn't motivation enough, he had Vance on his back as well; when he'd called the Director to tell him about Abby's injuries and his suspicions, Vance had ordered him to get to the bottom of this one fast.

He led the way into the lab

"What do you got, McGee?"

"Got a hit on the tire tracks you found, Boss. The tires are original equipment on the Dodge Charger, manufactured between 2002 and 2008. I don't have a return on the headlight glass yet"

"DiNozzo, check with the MPs again, see if they can remember any more about the damaged car-"

Ziva broke in "What about surveillance footage, Gibbs?"

Tony shook his head "The cameras are all focused on the entrance points, Zee-vah. No shots of exiting vehicles"

"Actually, you're wrong Tony" McGee interrupted

The rest of the team turned and looked at him on their way out of the lab

"Boss, they upgraded the security camera network on the gatehouses last month. The new system has more cameras, and they capture outgoing vehicles as well as the incoming"

"DiNozzo, talk to the MPs. Ziva, get those tapes!"

"On it, Boss!"

Gibbs turned to McGee. "That's good work McGee. Let me know when you get a hit on that glass"

Ziva returned quickly with the security footage on CD, closely followed by DiNozzo. She sat down at her desk and inserted the CD into her computer, listening to DiNozzo as she opened the footage.

"No dice with the MPs, Gibbs. Only one of them remembers seeing the damaged car, and all he can remember is it was a dark coloured sedan. It's been a really busy day out there; they were more concerned about checking out the cars entering the Yard than any leaving. Sorry, Boss"

Gibbs nodded and turned his attention to Ziva

"Any luck with those tapes?"  
"I got all of today's footage, but I am having trouble finding the damaged car, Gibbs"

"Put it up on the plasma, and get McGee up here"

"No need Boss" McGee's voice came from behind them "I got a hit on the headlight glass; it's also from a Dodge Charger. And there was blood on it too, I ran it through AFIS. It's Abby's"

He took the remote from Ziva and started fast forwarding through the tape, pausing whenever he saw a dark sedan. Finally with Tony's help, he found the car with the damaged headlight that the MP had noticed. They had a clear shot of the license plate as the car went through the gate. He grabbed a pen and paper, writing down the plate number before going to his desk and running it through the system.

He got a hit quickly, and grimaced at his screen

"Boss, you're not going to like this" he called out

"What is it, McGee?"

"The car was registered as a government fleet vehicle and assigned to an Agency motor pool"

"Ok, so which Agency?"

"NCIS. The car is one of ours, Boss"

Gibbs cursed under his breath. That was all they needed

"DiNozzo, David, find out who signed out that car and when, and if it's been returned. McGee, go back to the hospital and relieve Ducky" he waited until Tony and Ziva had made it to the elevators before continuing

"You've done all you can here for today, Tim. Call me the minute she gets out of surgery"

McGee didn't say anything, but Gibbs caught his grateful smile as he headed for the elevator.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know this chapter is a little slow, bear with me folks. The next chapter will move faster, promise. F.**

She'd been in surgery for hours; it felt more like weeks to McGee, but as he checked his watch yet again, it was still the same day. Gibbs, Tony and Ziva had arrived roughly two hours after he'd gotten back to Bethesda; they'd hit an unexpected dead end with the case. Tony had tried to explain it to McGee, but it hadn't sunk in at all. Right now, the only thing he could think about was Abby. He kept telling himself that no news was good news, that the fact that they were still in there, working on her meant she was still clinging to life. He wouldn't, couldn't let himself face the possibility of losing her. The merest thought of having to spend his life without her in it made him drop his face into his hands, unwilling to let the rest of the team see the sudden tears. He felt Gibbs lay a comforting hand on his shoulder; it had to have been Gibbs; Tony would have said something. He looked at his watch again; she'd been in there for 6 hours now.

Finally the moment they'd been half wanting, half dreading arrived. The door opened and a doctor came in

"Family of Ms. Scuito?"

"That's us" Gibbs was the first to respond. McGee raised his head hopefully. _Please, let it be good news_

"I'm Doctor Fitzpatrick, I've been operating on Ms. Scuito-" Tony cut him off

"Abby. Her name is Abby"

"Sorry, Abby. She's out of surgery now and in the recovery room. We'll be moving her to the ICU shortly. I have both good news and bad news"

"Give it to us straight, Doc" Gibbs demanded

"Ok, well when she came in she was in a very bad way. She'd lost a lot of blood from both the internal bleeding and the leg wound, requiring multiple transfusions. We located the source of the bleeding, and we've got it stopped now. We had to remove her spleen, that's not a major issue. She also had some damage to her liver, which we've repaired as best we can. It will heal itself but it's going to take time. Her leg was comparatively minor, but she will be in traction for at least a week, and she'll need a cast for roughly 8 to 12 weeks afterwards"

"What aren't you telling us?" McGee half smiled at that; Gibbs always knew when someone was hiding something.

"We can't be certain about how long she was without oxygen. I'm concerned about the possibility of hypoxic brain injury" McGee dropped his head back into his hands at that.

Ducky broke in "How soon will we know?"

"We have to wait for her to wake up first, before we can make any assessment. Unfortunately, we just have to wait and see"

"Can we see her?" McGee's voice came out sounding more like a croak

"Once we've got her into ICU, yes, but strictly one at a time. We'll let you know when we've moved her. Excuse me" he left the room

McGee felt numb with shock. Hypoxic brain injury? Abby being forever not quite... Abby was a horrible thought. If only he'd found her a few minutes earlier... he didn't realise he'd said it out loud until Gibbs head slapped him gently

"McGee, this is not your fault, do you hear me? You saved her life. I don't want to hear any of this 'if only' crap. She will be ok"

Ducky chimed in "Timothy, the Yard is a busy place; she couldn't have been there long or somebody would have noticed her"

Mutely, McGee nodded. They were right; 'if only' wasn't helping anyone.

Soon the doctor came back, telling them that Abby had been settled into ICU

"She's still unconscious, but we're hoping that that will change presently. You can visit her now, but one at a time"

They stood, following Dr Fitzpatrick down the hall to the ICU. Gibbs stopped McGee from entering the ward

"McGee, you might want to think about getting changed first"

"Huh? Oh" he looked down and realised that he was still wearing the shirt with her blood on it. In his haste to get back to the hospital, he hadn't taken the time to grab a fresh one. If she saw him wearing this, she was going to freak out, either thinking that he'd been hurt, or that she was hurt a lot worse than they were telling her "I've got a clean one in the car, Boss. I'll be back in a few minutes"

He took a second to orient himself, then headed for the elevators.

"Jethro, where is Tim going?" Ducky asked at Gibbs' elbow

"Sent him to get changed. He's not taking this too well, Duck" he said as he headed down the hall towards Abby's room

"Yes, I know. He has always been protective of Abigail. I think he feels that he's failed her, Jethro. We're going to need to keep a close eye on him"

"I'm going to take him off the case, at least for now. He's too close to this one"

They reached Abby's room, surprised to find both Tony and Ziva leaning on the wall waiting for them

"Thought you'd want to see her first, Boss" DiNozzo offered by way of explanation. Gibbs nodded, steeling himself for a moment before entering her room

The usually lively forensic scientist looked small and pale in the hospital bed. Her leg was suspended from a traction frame; she had oxygen feeding from nasal prongs and tubes snaking from her arm and side. Gibbs pulled the visitor's chair closer to the bed and sat down. This woman was like a daughter to him, and the sight of her lying still in a hospital bed made the anger he'd been trying to suppress boil over. "We will find the bastard that did this to you, Abs. I promise you that" he told her. He didn't know if she could hear him or not, but he felt better for telling her anyway. He stayed for a few minutes, wanting to stay longer but knowing that the rest of his team was waiting to see her.

He left the room, signalling with a jerk of his head for Tony to go and see Abby. As the younger agent moved towards her room, Gibbs took his spot against the wall next to Ziva

"How does she look, Gibbs?" Ziva asked him

"Not too bad considering, Ziva" she nodded, and seemed to be about to ask him another question when McGee came up to them

"Tony's with her?" he took a step as if to enter Abby's room. Gibbs stopped him

"One at a time, McGee"

"Boss-"

"One at a time. Let Ducky and Ziva see her first" he straightened up from where he was leaning and walked over to his youngest agent. Speaking so that only McGee could hear him, he said "I'm making you wait til last for a reason, Tim. Once Ducky and Ziva have been in there, you can stay as long as you want." He saw realisation dawn on McGee's face, then watched his face cloud over again as he asked "But what about the case, Boss?"

"Once she wakes up, then you can worry about the case"

"Got it, Boss"

McGee slumped down against the wall to wait, forcing himself to remain patient while Tony, Ducky and Ziva sat with Abby in turn. Finally Ziva left Abby's room, and it was his turn to see her. He stood up slowly, legs stiff from being motionless for so long.

The rest of the team were waiting for Gibbs' orders. "Tony, Ziva, go home and get some rest; we've got work to do in the morning. Ducky, head on home. McGee. Let us know when she wakes up"

McGee nodded, then turned and finally entered her room

The sight of Abby lying battered and broken in her hospital bed brought tears to McGee's eyes. Quietly sitting down in the visitor's chair, he gently took her hand, watching her face for any sign that she was waking up.

"I don't know if you can hear me, Abs, but I'm gonna say this anyway. I should have told you years ago, even if you didn't want to hear it, but I was scared that I'd lose you completely if I did. Anyway, here goes... I love you, Abby. I don't care if you don't feel the same way, but I had to say it. I love you"

He sighed. Hopefully one day he'd be able to tell her when she was conscious.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Ok, sorry for two reasons; one, that it's been over a week since I posted anything on this story, and two, that this chapter is so short!**

**Inspiration for this story deserted me for a few days. 'Creative stifling' is a killer, lol. Now I've figured out some more of the story, hopefully I can get some more posted soon.**

**Thanks for your patience! F.**

Gibbs growled in frustration. What should have been a simple matter of finding who had signed out the pool car that had hit Abby was rapidly turning into a farce.

Only a few people in the Agency had a regularly assigned car; the field teams, senior administrators, and of course the MCRT and ME trucks. Other employees could requisition one as needed. All they had to do was provide the proper Agency ID to the motor pool, collect the keys and leave. They were supposed to sign the cars back in before the Agency motor pool closed, but as per usual, there were a few cars that were still signed out from the day before. To make matters worse, the checker on duty yesterday had been brand new; he hadn't checked and recorded the ID of people signing out cars properly, and some of the signatures on the sign out sheets were illegible. Needless to say, that particular checker no longer worked at the Agency.

That left them with the task of checking the security footage for the motor pool and matching every face with the people known to have taken cars that day. Hopefully that way they'd end up with a suspect.

The problem with that was that Tony and Ziva just did not have the same tech skills as Abby and McGee. Hell, McGee's tech skills were the reason Gibbs had wanted him on his team in the first place, although the young man had turned into a good field agent. Tony and Ziva were struggling to pinpoint good still frames of the people they needed to match. Instinctively, Gibbs turned to McGee's desk to tell him to take over, then cursed under his breath. McGee was still out at Bethesda; Abby had gotten out of surgery late last night and was still unconscious.

He watched his two remaining agents carefully. Ziva was more accurate, when she could get the remote for the plasma screen off Tony. Standing, he stalked over to the two constantly quarrelling agents and took the remote off Tony, handing it to Ziva and giving Tony a warning glance as he began to protest. He didn't have time for their games right now. The need to catch the person who had hit Abby was rapidly becoming an obsession. No one hurt one of his people and got away with it.

Unable to stand the tedium of the search any longer, he went for coffee

True to form, he returned to the bull pen as Ziva stopped the tape on the blurred image of a man. She looked around as he entered

"Gibbs, I think we have something. We have gotten photographs of every single person that visited the motor pool except this one. He seems to have avoided every single camera. All we can tell is that he is male, roughly 6'2" to 6'4" in height and has dark hair. That description includes almost 30 men from this office"

"What's the timestamp on that, Ziva?"

"40 minutes before McGee found Abby" she replied

He stared at the screen briefly, trying to imprint the image on his memory. This was the bastard, he was sure of it. He could feel it in his gut.

"Get me an ID on that guy" he demanded "I don't care if you have to interview every person matching that description in this Agency. Just find him"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Two updates in less than 8 hours. I am on a roll! **

**This chapter popped into my brain while I was sleeping, waking me up after all of 5 hours sleep. Inspiration strikes at the most annoying times. F.**

McGee sat in the same spot where he'd spent most of the night, still holding her hand, still watching her face. If anything, Abby looked worse now than when they'd brought her in to ICU; overnight her breathing had become laboured and they'd put her on a ventilator, telling him that it was just a precaution. Her damaged lung was having trouble coping. They'd kicked him out while they'd done that, for which he wasn't sure whether to be grateful. He didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't stand there and watch them stick more tubes into her. She looked even less like his Abby now. He'd dozed on and off, kicking himself mentally every time he jerked awake again.

Her eyelids fluttered and finally opened. He caught the movement and stood, making sure he was in her vision. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he spoke, trying to reassure her

"It's ok, Abs. You're in the hospital. You're going to be just fine". He had tears running down his face, tears of relief. He quickly wiped them away. Her hands moved wildly, catching his attention. It took him a moment to realise that the motions weren't random. She was trying to tell him something. At his request, she'd been teaching him sign language. His knowledge was still basic, so it took repetition, but finally the words made sense

"Computers. Follow the money" he repeated the words back to her, making sure he had her message right.

"Your lab computers?" he asked her, watching for her positive response. He hesitated, torn between his desire to stay and the need to follow up on what she was telling him. The pleading look in her eyes before she fell asleep again decided him. He grabbed his things and headed back to his car.

...

Three hours later, they'd narrowed down their suspect list to 3 people- one from finance, one from legal, and one from cybercrimes. Still missing an agent, Gibbs joined the rest of his team in checking the movements of their suspects, concentrating on the one from finance. Interestingly, not one of their suspects had reported for work this morning, and the pool car was still outstanding. They'd put out a BOLO with the license plate number of the car, but black Dodge Chargers were common in the DC area; almost every agency used them. They needed the suspect.

"Boss?" he looked up from the file he was studying, startled to hear McGee's voice. His youngest agent was pale, with massive dark circles under his eyes. It was obvious that he hadn't slept

"You look like hell, McGee" Gibbs observed. McGee let that one pass; he had more important things on his mind

"Boss, I think I've got something. Abby woke up briefly a little while ago; they've got her on a ventilator now, something to do with fluid and her lung" the panic was back in McGee's voice. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. "Sorry Boss. They've got her back on a ventilator, so she can't talk. It took me a minute to realise what she was doing, but she signed something to me. I think it's important, Boss"

Tony broke in "When did you learn sign language, Probie?" Gibbs had been wondering the same thing

McGee glanced at Tony "Abby's been teaching me" he explained "Anyway, Boss, she said 'Computers. Follow the money'. I think she's been working on something, and I don't think this was a traffic accident" He took another deep breath before voicing the fear that he'd just sparked in the rest of the team

"I think someone tried to kill her"

...

Gibbs sat back in his chair, letting the information McGee had just given him sink in. Abby had been working on something? That made sense in a way; Vance often gave her side assignments when there weren't any major cases in progress. But what could she have turned up that would spark an attempt at murder?

"DiNozzo, David, we need to find these suspects now. McGee" he turned back to the young agent. He really did look like hell. "We need to know what Abby was working on. Are you up to it?" He studied McGee's face while he spoke. Under the exhaustion was determination and a burning anger. Good.

McGee nodded. He had to do this for Abby.


	7. Chapter 7

He entered the unusually dark and silent lab. Someone must have shut down Abby's equipment overnight; he didn't bother to turn on most of it, just the computer banks, plasma screen and her stereo. He put on her favourite CD; the music reminded him of her, and hopefully that would help keep him awake. Time was when he would swear Abby's music would wake the dead, but he was used to it now.

It felt weird, tapping into Abby's computer. He'd used it hundreds of times, but always just the public things; databases, acoustical analysis programs and the like. This time he'd have to enter her personal files. Despite her permission, it felt like a massive invasion of privacy. He did this all the time with suspects and victims computers, but this was different. This wasn't some stranger, this was his best friend.

As he expected, Abby's hard drive was well organised. It was a massive relief for someone like him. Untidy hard drives irked him, and they made it so hard to find what he needed. He skimmed through the ordinary, everyday programs and files without looking too deeply, still feeling somewhat squeamish about what he was doing. He honestly didn't want to examine every aspect of her personal life, it wasn't his business. He just wanted to find what she wanted him to know, and then get back to the hospital. He knew he needed to sleep, but the need to be with Abby was stronger. He'd rest when she was out of danger.

He dug past what he thought of as surface files, still finding nothing obvious. Of course, that was to be expected; Abby would have buried the files he was looking for somehow. He settled in for a long search. She did nothing by halves.

...

3 hours, two levels of encryption and a hidden hard drive partition later, he finally opened her cache of active folders. They were labelled with names. He needed to know the names of the suspects that Gibbs was chasing. Picking up the lab phone, he hit the speed dial for Tony's cell. He didn't want to admit to Gibbs that he'd forgotten to ask for vital information before beginning his search

"DiNozzo"

"Tony, it's McGee. I need the names of the suspects"

"Edward Christianson, Wayne Townell and Peter Jacobi." Tony answered quickly. Dimly, he was grateful for Tony not giving him a hard time about forgetting information as he thanked him and hung up.

He looked at the folders in the partition he had opened before him. One was labelled 'Jacobi'. He double clicked it and was soon absorbed in the information it contained.

It was an audacious theft. Jacobi worked in the finance department, and he'd been systematically transferring money left over when an op came in under budget to his own private account

"I gotta call Gibbs" he thought out loud

"No need, McGee" came the Boss' voice from over his shoulder "What've you got?"

"Boss, its Jacobi. He's been milking Agency accounts for what looks like years"

"How much?"

"I haven't been right through the files yet -"

"How much, McGee?" Gibbs cut him off

"Looks like at least $2 million, Boss"

"Find out how this bastard knew Abby had this information" he put a Caf-Pow down on the desk, then turned and left the lab. McGee hadn't even noticed he was holding it. He picked it up and drank deeply. The caffeine was going to have to be enough for now.

...

Gibbs exited the elevator at a trot, barking the usual "Gear up!" as he got within earshot. He paused by his desk long enough to grab his badge and sidearm. He slammed the ammunition clip home into the gun with unnecessary force. Part of him hoped that Jacobi would give him an excuse to use the weapon. He felt Tony's eyes on him as he holstered the SIG and knew he shared the same thought. He'd only ever seen his team this angry once before; when Ari had murdered Kate.

"Where are we going, Boss?" Tony asked, his voice level

"It's Jacobi. He's been stealing millions from the Agency; Abby had the information on her computer" he threw over his shoulder as he headed back to the elevator. He knew that DiNozzo and David were right behind him

He drove to Jacobi's address on the fringes of Georgetown as if his life depended on it. The bastard had a day's head start on them. He hoped that he wasn't smart enough to flee as soon as he'd left the Navy Yard yesterday.

He waved his team into position and then kicked the door in. No silent raid, this one. The calls of 'clear' just pissed him off even more than he already was. Judging by the pot of water boiling on the stove and the open laptop on the kitchen table, they'd just missed him.

...

McGee checked the 'date modified' column on the Jacobi file and was surprised to see that the timestamp was a bare 45 minutes before he'd found Abby on the side of the road yesterday afternoon. Jacobi must have been planning to flee. But how had he known that Abby had the information? And if she'd only gotten the information a few minutes before she'd been hit, how had Jacobi found out so quickly?

He sat back, puzzled. He knew he wasn't thinking as clearly as he usually did- the lack of sleep was having its effect on him- but he was still disgusted with himself when it occurred to him. It had taken him way too long to see the answer. Trojan horse. Somehow Jacobi had planted a Trojan on Abby's computer, tracing her searches. It must have alerted him when she'd accessed some of the incriminating information

Horror struck, he realised that the Trojan must still be active on her system. If Jacobi was watching his computer, McGee had just tipped him off.

He grabbed the lab phone, hitting the speed dial for Gibbs' cell

"Yeah, Gibbs" he sounded even more curt than usual

"Boss, its McGee. Jacobi had a Trojan on Abby's computer. I didn't see it til it was too late. I think he saw me access Abby's files"

"I'd say so, McGee. He's gone"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took a little longer. I am still intending on posting another chapter of 'There's Fire' in the next day or so also, but I'm in the process of re-writing a chapter. I'm not getting chapters up as quickly as I was, as I'm finally getting sleep! Will still try to get one chapter up every day or second day at the worst.**

**Please review! F.**

"David, DiNozzo, spread out. See if you can find out where he's headed" Gibbs ordered. They needed to catch this guy, and soon. Now that he'd been spooked, he'd run as fast as he could. And with attempted murder charges hanging over his head, Gibbs was betting on somewhere without an extradition treaty.

"On it, Boss" came the expected reply. Holstering their weapons, they snapped on latex gloves and started a meticulous search, looking for any evidence that would point towards Jacobi's intended destination.

A few minutes later, Ziva's voice called out from the master bedroom

"I have something, Gibbs"

He entered the room to find her bagging and tagging some foreign paper currency

"I found these in his drawers, along with several brochures on Bali and Koh Samui" she explained. "They are Indonesian"

"Boss, Indonesia doesn't have an extradition treaty" Tony commented from the doorway

Gibbs flicked open his cell and dialled

"McGee"

"McGee, can you trace Jacobi's cell? We need to know where he's heading"

"I can see if his cell has a GPS locator chip"

"Do it"

"Just gotta tap into the GPS locator program...got him. He's 15 blocks away, looks like he's heading towards Dulles"

Over his shoulder, Gibbs snapped out "Let's go. McGee's got him on the GPS; he's heading to the airport. McGee" he said back into the phone "Keep a track on him. I want to get close enough to follow him without him seeing us"

...

McGee quickly brought the locator program up onto the plasma screen in Abby's lab, relaying directions to Gibbs as Jacobi drove. Anger fuelled him now, keeping him awake and alert as they tracked Jacobi's movements. He wished he could be there when Gibbs took him down; he knew it wasn't going to be gentle. Gibbs didn't mess around with people that hurt someone he cared about, and Abby was the closest thing to a daughter he had.

Thanks to Gibbs' driving, it wasn't long before they had the Agency car in visual contact. They tailed him expertly, keeping tabs on him without him knowing it. Jacobi drove nervously, stopping and starting at each light jerkily, never keeping a constant speed. He headed steadily for Dulles Airport, not making any attempts to cover his tracks. Clearly he thought that they'd lost him when he fled his house.

Gibbs waited until Jacobi had pulled into the departures drop off of the main terminal before making his move. Gunning the engine, he screeched to a halt behind Jacobi's car. All three agents piled out of the vehicle, quickly surrounding Jacobi amid yells of "Federal Agents!" They could hear women screaming in the background, but their attention was focused on the man in front of them. Swiftly, with the ease of long practise, DiNozzo cuffed him

"You are under arrest for attempted murder and fraud. Anything you say may be used to..." his voice cut off as he manhandled Jacobi into the backseat of their car.

...

McGee sat in front of Abby's computer, trying to absorb what had happened in the last few minutes. It was over; they had the bastard that hurt Abby in custody. They were bringing him in for questioning. Somehow he didn't want to see this particular interrogation. He also didn't want to risk crossing paths with Jacobi, not while Abby's health still hung in the balance. They still didn't know if she had any degree of brain injury. He looked at the clock on Abby's desktop, startled when he saw how long he'd been sitting there. They would almost be back by now.

He grabbed his things, heading for the evidence garage; he'd come in that way earlier, it was quicker than passing through screening at the front entrance. If he hurried, he'd make it out before the team brought Jacobi in.

When he entered the garage, however, he saw that he'd missed his timing. The team had just pulled in and were getting the struggling Jacobi out of the backseat. At the sight of the man who had done his best to kill Abby, something snapped inside Tim. All the fury that had kept him going for the past few hours boiled up again, putting him in a white hot rage. He approached the car, stopping a short distance away.

Suddenly Jacobi made an attempt at grabbing Tony's SIG out of its holster. Instantly, the guns of Gibbs, Ziva and McGee were trained on him. Quailing, Jacobi thought better of the move and submitted. Ziva and Gibbs lowered their weapons. McGee kept his firmly pointed at Jacobi's head. His hands were trembling slightly, not enough to interfere with his aim at this distance. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He tensed his finger slightly, taking up most of the pressure needed to pull the trigger. All it would take was the slightest movement...

"McGee!" Gibbs' shout seemed to come from a great distance; he was totally focused on the shot. He could see the fear in Jacobi's eyes

"He's not worth it, McGee" Gibbs' hand was on his wrist now, gently making him lower his weapon. He sighed and submitted, lowering the barrel and holstering the gun.

"He tried to kill her, Boss" it wasn't really an explanation or an apology, just a statement of fact.

"Go home, McGee. Or back to the hospital. Anywhere but here" it was definitely an order, but as he searched Gibbs' face, McGee was certain he saw sympathy in his boss' eyes. Mutely he nodded, picking his pack up from the floor where he'd dropped it and exiting via the still open garage door.


	9. Chapter 9

McGee entered Abby's room again, his eyes going straight to the silent figure in the bed. He sighed in relief; they'd taken her off the ventilator and replaced it with an oxygen mask while he was gone. He'd been gone almost 6 hours this time. He hoped she'd been asleep the whole time. Apart from needing sleep to heal, he didn't want her stressing over the information she'd given him.

He settled down into the uncomfortable chair that he'd mentally tagged as his, dropping his pack to the floor. He really should go home, but he just couldn't. He wanted to be there when she woke up again, wanted to tell her that they'd caught Jacobi, that Gibbs probably had him in Interrogation right now. He didn't really want to tell her that he'd almost shot Jacobi himself; he wasn't proud of his loss of control.

He made himself consider his actions. What would he have done if Gibbs hadn't been there? Would he really have pulled the trigger? He never thought that he could murder another human being, but that's what it would have been; murder. He'd killed people before, sure, but they'd been armed, not defenceless and handcuffed. Did that make him any better than Jacobi? He shook his head at the thought. The impulse to kill Jacobi had been revenge, pure and simple. Would he have pulled the trigger? He thought back to that moment in the garage. He'd been looking for a reason to harm Jacobi the way he'd harmed Abby; going for Tony's gun had just been a convenient excuse. Fury still filled him at the thought of Jacobi deliberately running Abby over. It was a good thing that Gibbs had ordered him to leave. He really didn't think that he could continue to work on the case. He was too close to this. He loved Abby.

He dozed on and off again, turning the question over in his mind during his waking moments.

...

Gibbs cursed mentally as they marched Jacobi upstairs to Interrogation. He understood why McGee had reacted the way he did, he'd been there himself. The difference was there had been no one there to stop him when he'd reached that point. The memory still haunted him, years later. McGee was lucky, but he'd still have to face the fact that he was willing to take a human life in cold blood, even if he'd been prevented from doing so.

DiNozzo shoved Jacobi roughly into the chair in the Interrogation room, and then they left and locked the door. Jacobi could stew for a few minutes. Gibbs went back upstairs to the squad room, gathering up the case file they'd opened and the printouts from Abby's computer that McGee had left on his desk. Until he got McGee back into the lab, he didn't know if Abby's records were the only ones left; Jacobi may have been trying to erase his tracks.

He spent the few moments in the elevator restraining his anger. There was a time for anger in Interrogation, but it was a tool; it had to be used wisely or not at all.

Calmly he entered the room and sat down across from the trembling figure of Jacobi. He watched Jacobi with a practised eye; the bastard was obviously still half terrified from his encounter with McGee in the evidence garage. Good. He'd be easy to crack. He wanted a full confession out of this one so he could put him away for as long as possible.

He flicked open the file in front of him, spreading the sheets of bank records, wire transfers and evidence reports across the table. Selcting one, he handed it to Jacobi

"Recognise this?" he asked, keeping his voice level

"Should I?"

"That's a printout of a bank account, registered in your name, showing deposits totalling more than $100 000"

Jacobi was silent. He selected another printout, sliding it across the table

"This is a copy of a transfer from a dormant account belonging to this Agency to a holding account. And this is a copy of a wire transfer from that holding account to your account" He paused "We've got enough evidence to convict you of embezzlement, Jacobi. You'll do time for that" He watched Jacobi's face for reaction, catching the flicker of fear in his eyes.

He pulled another printout out of his piles. "This is a copy of the Agency motor pool records for yesterday. You tried to cover it, but we'll still be able to get enough points for a signature match. The car you used to drive to the airport this morning was signed out by you, yesterday morning. It's got a damaged headlight. We found headlight glass and tire tracks next to a badly injured woman in the Yard yesterday. She's in the hospital, still unconscious"

He rose to his feet, looming over the suspect

"You signed out that car and used it to run down the one person that had the evidence to convict you of embezzlement, didn't you?" He paused, waiting for Jacobi's answer. Getting none, he slapped the table

"Answer me!"

Shaking, the terrified Jacobi starting sobbing. Gibbs allowed himself an internal smile. Quietly, persuasively, he said

"Tell me what happened"

...

"Probie"

At DiNozzo's voice, McGee startled. He'd been dozing again. He checked the time. He'd been there for almost 2 hours. Getting to his feet, he moved to the doorway where Tony stood.

"Didn't expect you here this soon, Tony" he commented "Did Gibbs break him?"

"Yeah, Tim, he did. Though he was already half broken, what with your little stunt in the evidence garage. Thought you were going to kill him" his voice was questioning, searching for an answer to McGee's intentions in the garage

"I nearly did, Tony" the words were delivered in a bleak tone; McGee had come to the inescapable conclusion that he had meant to commit murder an hour or so ago. "If Gibbs hadn't stopped me, well..." he trailed off, unwilling to finish the sentence.

The sound of Abby's voice, scratchy and hoarse, made them spin and look towards her

"No, Tim" her eyes were wide with horror

...

The darkness that enveloped her was lifting again. She couldn't be sure now what was real and what wasn't. Had she really told Tim to check her computers, or was that a dream?

She could dimly hear voices nearby. Straining, she could tell it was Tony and McGee. Tony's words made her grow cold with fear, but it was the dead tone of Tim's voice that made her pull the mask away from her face and call out.

Instantly they were at her bedside, worried looks on both their faces. There was something else in McGee's expression as well; she filed that thought away for later.

"Abs-" Tim started to speak. She cut him off

"You can't kill him, Timmy" she needed him here, not in prison

"I know, Abs, I'm not going to kill him" his voice was soothing but sincere. She relaxed a little at the certainty, then stiffened again as memories started flooding back.

"I was walking to the cafe, to get lunch. I saw the Agency car come around the corner; I thought maybe it was one of you guys, so I stepped closer to the sidewalk. He saw me and aimed straight for me" her voice was getting higher as the panic she felt rose "I thought at first he was just trying to scare me, that he was going to stop, but then he didn't and I could see the car mount the kerb and come straight at me" she gulped, trying to take a deep breath with her damaged lung "And then he drove off, and I tried to call out for help but there was no one there"

McGee caught one of her wildly flailing hands. She was going to pull out her IV lines like this

"Easy, Abs, you're going to hurt yourself more" he told her. She didn't appear to have heard him. She turned, clinging to him now

"Don't leave me" she begged, sobbing

"I'm not going to leave you, Abs" he promised fervently. Across the bed he exchanged glances with DiNozzo. He wasn't going home any time soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Tony watched helplessly as McGee did his best to calm Abby down. He had her in a full hug now, stroking her hair and making soothing noises, reassuring her over and over that she was safe. In all the years that he'd known Abby Scuito, he'd never seen her this scared before. Part of him was glad it was McGee she'd turned to; he wouldn't have known what to do. But McGee seemed to. Her sobs had eased and she was listening to him now. He went to the door and poked his head into the hallway, looking for someone. There was a nurse a short distance away, walking back towards the nurses' station. He called out to her

"Nurse? She's awake"

At his words, the nurse turned around and headed back towards him, followed by a doctor who must have been at the nurses' station. He stood aside and let them enter Abby's room. At their insistence, McGee got up from his perch on the side of Abby's bed and joined him in the doorway. At her fearful look, he reassured her

"I'm not leaving, Abs. They've just gotta make sure you're ok"

She submitted to the medical staff's ministrations, answering the simple questions that they asked to assess any brain injury quickly, though her voice sounded scratchy and harsh. The nurse gave her some ice chips, explaining that she wasn't allowed anything else for now.

Tony watched McGee covertly. His attention was firmly fixed on Abby. A curious mixture of pain, love and worry was writ large on the younger agent's face. He wondered what McGee's state of mind must be like right now. He'd never had to watch someone he loved go through this sort of pain. That thought made him wonder something else. Had McGee ever told Abby how he felt about her? Inwardly smiling, he told himself that if Abby looked at McGee right now, he wouldn't have to tell her.

As the medical team left, the nurse reminded the two agents that she was only allowed one visitor at a time. Rolling his eyes, McGee gestured for Tony to take his seat at Abby's bedside. He remained in the doorway, hoping that they wouldn't come back and kick him out. Technically he wasn't in her room, but he doubted they'd see it like that.

While he loitered in the doorway, he spotted Gibbs coming down the hall towards him and groaned mentally. He'd hoped that his boss would arrive while no one else was visiting Abby. That way, maybe, he'd be too concerned with the forensic scientist to ream him out. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation.

He turned to meet Gibbs, making sure he stayed in Abby's vision. He was probably being ridiculous, but she'd begged him not to leave her. Abby never begged, so he was keeping his promise to the letter.

"What in the hell did you think you were doing, McGee?" came the expected angry question. Frustrated, he ran a tired hand through his hair. He didn't have an answer to that question for himself, let alone for Gibbs

"I lost it, Boss. It won't happen again" he told him

"You're damn right it won't! Consider yourself on a week's leave, effective immediately. Director's orders" Seeing the rebellion on his young agent's face, he relented a little "I do understand, Tim. I've been there myself". He saw the flash of comprehension and memory in McGee's eyes, knowing that McGee instantly took his words to mean his obsession with Ari in the aftermath of Kate's death. He'd never told anyone about his trip to Mexico after the murders of Shannon and Kelly. "You love her, don't you Tim?" he asked gently

"Yeah Boss, I do" McGee answered quietly. Turning towards the bed, Gibbs allowed himself a half smile. That was all the explanation he needed.

They stood in uncomfortable silence for a few moments. McGee was slightly unnerved by the conversation with Gibbs. He never pried into the personal lives of his agents. Oddly he felt closer to the older man right now, the love they shared for the injured woman in the bed before them binding them for the moment.

Gibbs broke the quiet

"How's she doing?" he asked

"Better" McGee was relieved to be having a more normal conversation with his boss "They put her back on a mask an hour or so before I got here, and she woke up just after Tony arrived. She's lucid and she remembers what happened. She's pretty terrified, Boss. Kept begging me not to leave her" he took a deep breath at the memory. "Tony called the staff when she woke up, they asked her a whole bunch of questions; name, age, occupation, the usual stuff. They didn't tell me what they thought, and I'm not listed as next of kin so they won't let me ask" He grimaced at that.

Gibbs nodded; he was listed as Abby's next of kin. "I'll find out" he told McGee, heading down the hall to the nurses' station. McGee turned his attention back to Abby, watching her with Tony. She looked calmer now, though her eyes still slid to where he stood. Making sure he was there, he assumed.

At Gibbs' return, Tony excused himself to Abby and joined them in the doorway. "Good news?" he asked hopefully

"Initial assessment is no signs of brain injury" Gibbs told them. The sense of relief was massive, making Tim's knees shake slightly

"Thank God" he said fervently. Dimly he heard the rest of Gibbs' update, about having to conduct more tests. His thoughts were elsewhere. She was going to be ok. The physical wounds would take time to heal, and so would the mental, but she would be the same Abby that he'd loved for so many years. He realised he had tears running down his face again, but made no move to wipe them away.

Tony left then and Gibbs entered Abby's room, leaving him to his thoughts.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: This one is kinda short, but I really needed a chapter from Abby's POV. F.**

Everything ached. Her leg hurt where it was suspended from the traction frame, her side throbbed around the incision they'd used to take out her spleen, it hurt to take a deep breath, and she was covered in a myriad of bruises. Added to the physical pain was the fear.

McGee, Tony and Gibbs had all told her that Jacobi was in custody, that she had nothing left to fear from him, but she couldn't help it. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was the black sedan mounting the sidewalk and not having time to get out of the way. Intellectually she knew it was irrational; but that didn't stop the panic she felt when she was alone.

She knew she'd asked a lot of Tim when she begged him not to leave her, but it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. He was her best friend; she could always go to him for help, and she needed it now.

Even while Tony and then Gibbs had visited her, he'd still stayed where she could see him. He didn't take his promises lightly, and that was one of the things she liked about him. She knew she was perfectly safe with Tony and Gibbs, but something inside her froze up a little when she couldn't see him. It was odd but she assumed it was part of the fear.

He was there now, sitting beside her bed. He was unusually silent though, and that had her a little worried. Tony had avoided the question when she'd asked him exactly what had happened between Tim and Jacobi, and that made her worry even more. Tim was a reserved guy; he didn't talk about the things that were bothering him easily, and from what she'd overheard when she woke up, he definitely would have something bothering him now. She snuck a sideways look at him. He was lost in thought, his expression somewhere between bleak and pensive. She had to ask. She reached out her hand, the one less entangled in IV lines and other medical paraphernalia, and gently touched his.

"Tim?"

He turned his head and smiled at her. It wasn't the full blown Timmy grin she secretly loved, but a sadder, somehow sweeter smile

"Sorry, Abs, guess I zoned out for a few minutes" he said

"What happened in the evidence garage?" she asked.

"Nothing Abs, don't worry about it" came the evasive reply

"McGee, I heard what you and Tony said, and Gibbs told me that you'd been put on leave for a week. That doesn't happen over 'nothing'" she stared at him, knowing eventually he'd break down and tell her. He always did.

Finally he sighed, running one tired hand across his face.

"I was leaving for the night after they'd gotten Jacobi. I ducked through the evidence garage, trying to avoid them, but I was there at the wrong time. Jacobi made a grab for Tony's gun, and I guess I overreacted" It was clear that he was trying to tell her what had happened without alarming her, but it was like a dam had burst

"I've never thought of myself as a killer, Abs, but I couldn't help thinking about how you looked when I found you, and I wanted to kill him for what he'd done to you. If Gibbs hadn't stopped me, I probably would have pulled the trigger" he admitted. "Now I've gotta figure out how to deal with that"

She was a little stunned by what she'd just heard

"Back up a sec, Tim. You found me?" she asked

"Well, yeah, Abs, how did you think you'd gotten here?"

"I don't know, a random passerby or something" she was horrified by the thought that Tim had found her like that.

He shook his head, chalk white at the memory

"I thought you were dead, Abs. Scariest few minutes of my life" he cut himself off, as if he was going to continue but thought better of it. Wondering what he was about to say, she went to ask but was interrupted by the entrance of a nurse, coming in to take yet another blood sample.

...

McGee took the interruption as an opportunity to duck to the head, needing a few moments to compose himself. What the hell was wrong with him? He knew he'd let his guard down, telling Abby about the near shooting, but he'd damn near blurted out that he loved her. He'd spent years trying not to tell her that particular fact; maybe it was the tiredness? Silently he thanked God for the entrance of the nurse; he could see that Abby was about to press him about cutting himself short the way he had, and he just didn't have a plausible answer.

He splashed cold water on his face, feeling the chill have its desired effect of waking him up just a fraction. If the exhaustion he felt was making him leave his guard down now, how much would he inadvertently tell her before he got some decent sleep?

He sighed, drying his face and hands with paper towel and making sure his usual rigid self control was in place before he went back to her room.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Change of perspective again guys. Hope you like this chapter, it was fun to write. F.**

Tony was already at his desk when Ziva arrived the next morning. She deposited her things at her own desk, and then perched on the corner of his.

"How is Abby?" she asked "She was asleep when I went to visit her last night"

"She's pretty rocky. Physically, she'll be ok, but right now she's terrified. When I was there last night she wouldn't let Probie out of her sight. We didn't realise she'd come around and she overheard us talking about his little encounter with Jacobi. I think she's worried about him trying to kill Jacobi"

"McGee was there when I went to see her, asleep" she commented "At least he is getting some rest"

They were interrupted by the entrance of Gibbs

"DiNozzo, I need you to follow up on the information Jacobi gave us yesterday. Ziva, I want you to trace all of the wire transfers to and from this Agency to Jacobi's accounts. We need to make sure his story checks out"

He disappeared up the stairs and into MTAC. Tony and Ziva exchanged looks. They were short handed with McGee on forced leave, but they both knew that Gibbs' computer skills were seriously lacking. This was going to be a long day.

...

There was something hinky about Jacobi's computer. It was too easy, Tony thought to himself. He knew he didn't have half the tech skills that McGee had, but he was having no problems getting the information he needed off the laptop's hard drive. The only thing even remotely similar to security on the computer was the normal Windows login password, and even that had only taken him 5 minutes to figure out.

Jacobi had been methodical about recording his thefts, unusual in a crook, but perfectly normal for an accountant from the Finance department. Tony worked steadily, gathering the electronic evidence that they needed and becoming more uneasy as he did. He'd expected to hit snags somewhere along the line. Truth be told, the case against Jacobi was pretty cut and dried, but no one felt like taking chances with this one. It was a good thing McGee hadn't done anything but run evidence for this one; otherwise the case could have been compromised with his stunt in the evidence garage the night before.

It was around mid morning when the hinky feeling about Jacobi's computer finally coalesced into an actual hunch. His computer was much too easy to crack. It was as if Jacobi had about as much computer knowledge as, well, Gibbs.

"Hey, Boss?" he called out across the bullpen "I think we've got a problem"

Instantly Gibbs was at his desk, leaning over his shoulder

"What is it, Tony?"

"This computer, it's too simple. There's no encryption, no passwords, no attempt at concealing anything. Nothing but basic programs; word processor, spreadsheet programs, a few simple games, the usual stuff"

"You got a point, DiNozzo?"

"The Trojan Jacobi used to trace Abby's searches was pretty sophisticated stuff, Gibbs. It would have taken someone with a decent knowledge of computer programming to do it. From what I can tell, Jacobi doesn't have much computer knowledge at all. I think he had an accomplice"

"Ok, start pulling phone records on Jacobi; cell, house and office. If he had an accomplice, we need to find them and fast" he paused "Good work, DiNozzo"

...

Tony grumbled to himself as he ran the phone records for the Agency switchboard. He'd found a strange number of calls from Jacobi's office phone that had been routed through the NCIS switchboard; he worked in the Agency, he could have just dialled the intra-Agency phone numbers directly, instead of going through the switchboard. It would have been faster, and less frustrating. It looked like he was trying to disguise who he was calling. So now Tony had to try and match the phone calls to the switchboard records and figure out where the calls were to. It was possible that Jacobi just hadn't known the direct numbers for the offices he was calling, but Tony's gut said otherwise.

He made a few wrong turns, trying to get the records he needed. This was normally Probie's area of expertise; Tony was rusty. Finally he got the date and timestamps to match up. When he saw who the calls had been routed to, his heart sank.

"Boss, I've got something, but you're not going to like it"

He stood and grabbed the clicker for the plasma, using it to bring up the phone records he'd been working on

"A bunch of calls made by Jacobi in the last 30 days were routed through the Agency switchboard, instead of direct dialling the offices he needed. Probably an attempt to cover his tracks. I matched them to the corresponding switchboard records, and I found that 15 of those calls went to one person" He hit the button, bringing up the NCIS identification for the person

"They went to Wayne Townell from Cybercrimes, Boss. He hasn't reported for work since yesterday"

"Address?"

He scribbled it down on a piece of paper and handed it to Gibbs, reaching for his pack in anticipation of Gibbs' next order

"Grab your gear"


	13. Chapter 13

Tony sighed as he got out of his Mustang in the hospital parking lot. It had been a long and truly frustrating day. They'd gone to Townell's apartment, hoping that they'd find him there, but knowing full well that he had a 24 hour lead on them.

His apartment had been messy, but not ransacked; more like someone had left in a hurry than anything else. He and Ziva had spent a good 3 hours going over the place with a fine tooth comb, hoping to find a lead. Townell was more careful than Jacobi, however. No conveniently forgotten foreign currency or travel brochures this time. They'd bagged and tagged a bunch of evidence, which was now on its way to the FBI labs, seeing as though their forensic scientist was in the hospital. He had a hunch that most of it would turn out to be useless, but you never knew what turned up; a break in a case sometimes came from the most unlikely of sources. The only bright spot was the fact that Townell had left his laptop behind. He was tempted to give it to McGee to crack while he was on 'leave', give him something else to think about. He'd have to run that by the Boss first. He knew he had no chance of getting any information out of it; Townell worked in Cybercrimes, while he, Tony, could barely type.

After striking out at Townell's apartment, they'd gone back to the Yard to start following the usual paper trail. They'd put out BOLO's on Townell and his car, checked with Customs and Immigration to see if he'd used his passport in the last week, started running phone records, and done a background check. So far, they had nothing, except for the Trojan on Abby's computer.

He knew Gibbs was concerned about the possibility of Townell coming after Abby. He'd obviously known about Vance's suspicions and Abby's assignment, otherwise why would he plant the Trojan on her computer? Try as he might, he couldn't figure out a way to discreetly keep an eye on her without alerting McGee. He'd been a field agent long enough to know when something was hinky, and he definitely operated on high alert when it came to Abby's safety.

Tony walked along the now familiar corridors to Abby's room, hoping he'd find her awake again. Arriving at her room, he stuck his head around the door and was momentarily surprised to see Gibbs in the visitors' chair

"Hey Abs, hey Boss. Where's Probie?"He looked around, expecting to see McGee somewhere close by.

"He left just after I got here" Gibbs explained

That made sense. Abby looked a lot calmer tonight than she had last night; McGee had probably realised he didn't need to be quite so protective. Anyway, she was perfectly safe with Gibbs.

"Oh, ok. I'm just gonna wait here then" he stepped back out into the hallway, knowing that otherwise the nurses were going to come along and kick one of them out. He leant against the wall, mentally rehearsing his arguments for giving McGee the laptop. The only people on the team that had a chance of cracking whatever protection Townell had put on it were Abby and McGee, and to be honest Abby would need McGee's help even on her best day. The alternative was to try and get Cybercrimes to have a look at it, and they couldn't really be sure that there was no one else in on the scam. Surely Gibbs would see his point?

About half an hour later, Gibbs exited Abby's room, nodding to Tony to enter. He stopped Gibbs from leaving

"Hey Boss, I was thinking. Townell's laptop; I really don't stand a chance of getting through his protection, and neither does Ziva. We could give it to Cybercrimes, but we can't be sure that whoever takes it down there hasn't been compromised. Only one of us that can get into that hard drive is McGee"

"Yup"

"So maybe we should give him the laptop, give him something to do. He's gotta be going crazy"

"Already did, DiNozzo"

"Oh"

Gibbs half smirked, then turned to leave  
"Don't stay too late, DiNozzo. Got work to do" he threw over his shoulder as he walked down the hallway.

Shaking his head slightly, Tony entered Abby's room. She was sitting bolt upright in the bed, her eyes dilated with fear. He hurried over to her

"Abs, what's wrong?"

She relaxed at his presence, gesturing impatiently at herself

"'It's nothing, Tony, just... don't leave me alone, ok?" Her eyes warned him not to press the point. She wasn't up to explaining whatever it was that was scaring her this badly.

"Is McGee coming back tonight?" he asked her. She nodded

"Then I'll stay til he gets back"


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Here's Chapter 14 guys. This story is turning into a long one, so thanks for your patience. I'm partway through writing Chapter 15; hopefully I'll have that one up for you tomorrow. F.**

McGee hurried towards the elevators, shifting his grip on the laptop as he did. He was worried that he was going to get back to find Abby was alone and terrified. The only reason he'd been able to leave her before was because Gibbs was there.

He'd gone home to get a shower and change his clothes, but he'd gotten caught in one of the traffic snarls common to DC and had taken longer than he expected to get back to Bethesda. To be honest, he hadn't been concentrating while he was driving; if he had, he might have been able to take a different route instead of getting himself stuck in a notorious bottleneck. His mind had been on Gibbs' revelation when he'd pulled him aside and given him the laptop.

He'd felt the fury build up inside again as Gibbs had told him about Townell, almost as strong as it had been in the garage. He'd done his best not to let it show on his face, but Gibbs could read people like open books. He'd hesitated just a fraction before handing him the computer, as if weighing up the possibility of McGee doing something stupid. Again.

He knew that any information on the laptop was going to be hard to get to; Townell hadn't worked in Cybercrimes when he was temporarily assigned there, but anyone that lasted down there for any length of time had to be very skilled. In a way, he was thankful that Gibbs had given him the task; this way he didn't feel as if he'd completely failed to do his job.

He turned down the last corridor and quietly entered her room. She was asleep. He allowed himself a sigh of relief. He hated to think of her as terrified as she had been. He looked around, seeing Tony sitting in the semi dark, half asleep. He went over to him and lightly touched him on the shoulder, motioning that they should go into the hallway.

"How's she doing?" he asked

Tony shrugged one shoulder "She's ok, I guess. Still pretty shaken up"

"Yeah, I know. You didn't leave her alone did you?" he knew he was becoming paranoid on this point, but Abby's white, scared face was imprinted on his memory

"For about 30 seconds" Tony confirmed "She's still scared of being by herself" it was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah, she is Tony" he ran one hand through his hair. He wished he knew how to help her.

...

Abby awoke slowly. For once the first thing that came to mind wasn't the radiator grille of a speeding car, but the conversation she'd had with an extremely chatty nurse earlier in the evening. She lay with her eyes closed, trying not to lose the thread of memory.

Gibbs had taken Tim out into the corridor while the nurse came in to do her usual battery of tests. She'd glanced over to where Tim stood with his back to her, and the nurse had followed her gaze. She'd given Abby a knowing smile. "He's just gone out for a moment so I can check you over" the nurse had continued "You're lucky to have such a devoted boyfriend, you know. He's barely left since you came in" Abby had gaped at her for a second

"Tim's not my boyfriend" she'd corrected the nurse "He's my best friend, but that's it"

"Oh! Well, if I had a best friend as cute as that that looked at me the way he looks at you, I wouldn't be single" She'd re hung the IV bag that Abby hated, then left.

As she lay there, mulling over the nurse's words, she became dimly aware of voices just outside the room. Tim and Tony. Some instinct made her keep her eyes closed as they talked softly, obviously trying not to wake her

"You're really worried about her, aren't you McGee?" Tony asked

"Of course I am Tony; she's my best friend"

"Hmm, we both know that's not the reason you're spending so much time here" Tony's voice was slyly teasing. He paused, but Tim didn't reply.

"Oh come on, Probie, the whole team knows how you feel about Abby"

"Tony" Tim's reply was a warning

"Fine, fine" Tony was backing off. In a gentler tone he asked

"Have you ever told her, Tim?"

"No" Tim sounded sad "And I'm not going to Tony, so just leave it"

"Why not?"

"She doesn't feel the same way, Tony. She's made that abundantly clear over the years" there was pain in his voice this time. "Can we drop this now? I don't want her to wake up alone"

"Sure thing Probie. Oh, good news. They're moving her to a regular room tomorrow, if the CT scan they've got scheduled goes well"

"Really? That's great" he sounded like he was smiling as he entered her room. She feigned sleep. Now she had even more to think about.

...

Checking to make sure she was still asleep, he sat down in his usual chair. Balancing the laptop on his knees, he booted it up, preparing himself for the challenge it presented.

Gibbs had informed him that he would tell Abby about Jacobi's accomplice. He had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, he knew that Abby needed to know what was happening. On the other hand, he didn't want her to worry anymore than she already was. At least her knowing about Townell meant that he could work on the laptop without breaking his promise to Abby. He'd brought the laptop's charging cable, so he could work on it all night if necessary. He knew that Townell had a sizeable lead on them, so getting as much information off the laptop as he could as quickly as possible was a must. This guy may not have actually hurt Abby, but they had to bring him down.


	15. Chapter 15

He looked up, exulting silently. He'd finally cracked through the last layer of encryption on Townell's hard drive. Townell was good, but McGee was better. He suddenly realised there was quite a few people in the room. He'd been so absorbed in the laptop that he didn't hear them come in. They were preparing to take Abby to her CT scan, bed and all. He remembered Tony saying that if this scan went well, they'd move her to a regular room.

He glanced at the time, mildly disturbed to see that two hours had passed since Ducky had left. They'd let both of them be in Abby's room at the same time. He assumed it was because of Ducky being a doctor. He'd roused himself enough to chat with Ducky a little, but most of his attention had been on the laptop. Even so, he'd caught one or two of Ducky's worried looks in his direction. He supposed he probably did look pretty bad; he didn't remember the last time he'd slept. At least he'd shaved last night before coming back to the hospital.

He smiled reassuringly at Abby as they wheeled her bed out of the room. She was going to be gone for a while. He'd take the opportunity to go down to the cafeteria and find something to eat. He closed the lid of the laptop, knowing he couldn't leave it out of his sight- chain of evidence and all- and went to stand up.

He swayed on his feet for a moment as the blood rushed away from his head. Something wasn't right. Maybe he just stood up too fast? He went to take a step. Blackness overcame him, and he crumpled noiselessly to the floor.

...

This morning wasn't going as well as he'd like.

Gibbs sat at his desk, checking the few hits they'd had on the BOLO they'd put out the day before. It was mid morning, and they hadn't turned up a single solid lead. Fornell's lab geek was taking his time processing the evidence they'd taken from Townell's apartment too. He hoped that McGee had had more luck with that damned laptop.

Frustrated, he turned his attention back to the BOLO. None of the 5 hits had been exact matches; all of them were for people that matched the general description of Townell. He picked up the phone and started calling the various police departments that had generated the hits, looking for more information.

He hung up the phone after one such call, slamming the receiver down in irritation. How could some police departments hire such idiots to be dispatchers?

"Jethro" he looked up to find Ducky standing in front of his desk, looking worried "Could I have a word with you?"

"Sure, Duck. What's up?"

"I visited Abigail this morning, and Timothy was there. I must say Jethro; I'm a bit concerned about that young man. Does anyone know when the last time he went home to sleep was?"

"I made him go home last night, Duck"  
"Boss" Tony interrupted "McGee came back about an hour after you left"

"Damn it Tony, why didn't you tell me?" Gibbs snapped

Tony shrugged "I didn't know you'd told him to go home, Boss"

"Well, that could be very serious, Jethro. He can't have had more than a couple of hours sleep since Abby was injured 3 days ago" Ducky broke in

Gibbs' cell phone rang. He flipped it open

"Yeah, Gibbs" He listened for a few minutes, aware that the whole team was watching him. He hung up, cursing under his breath. He stood quickly, wrenching open his desk drawer to grab his badge and weapon. Clipping the holster to his belt, he turned to Ducky

"You were right to worry, Duck. That was Bethesda; McGee's collapsed"


	16. Chapter 16

They waited in Abby's room.

McGee's crumpled form had been found when the nursing staff had brought Abby back from her CT scan. That fact had brought Gibbs to boiling point, demanding an explanation from the hapless nursing staff; the fact that they'd thought her room was empty didn't cut much ice with him. After his initial outburst, he'd returned to his silent brooding. Abby was almost as glad for the silence as she was for their presence.

The sight of Timmy lying motionless on the floor had sent a stab of pure terror through her. He was so still, she'd thought he was dead. Her first thought was that Townell had gotten to him while she was out. She'd made him tell her what the laptop he was working on was from, and even helped him a little when he got stuck on the decryption. Maybe Townell had accessed the device remotely somehow and figured out what they were doing? The medical staff rushing to Tim's aid had wiped the thought from her mind for the moment while she watched helplessly as they laid her best friend on a gurney and took him away.

The dread that she tried so hard to push away had flooded back as they left her alone. But this time it was coupled with fear for Tim's life. By the time Gibbs and Ducky had arrived, she'd worked herself into full blown panic. Gibbs had managed to calm her down, as always, but still, she worried. Is this how they'd felt while they waited for news when Tim found her? She shifted restlessly, mentally cursing the traction frame she was stuck in. She was used to pacing when she was upset. Being forced into immobility was driving her crazy.

Gibbs moved, getting up and heading out the doorway without speaking. They could hear his voice indistinctly from down the hallway for a few minutes before he re-entered her room, this time with an orderly in tow.

"Good news" he announced

"Tim?" Abby asked eagerly. Her face fell as Gibbs shook his head "They said they could move you to a regular room now"

...

The move took a lot of organising and a small amount of pain, courtesy of the traction frame. They'd given her some more pain meds so they could shift her, and they'd made her a little spacey. That's why she didn't notice that the second bed in the small room was occupied. She'd barely even glanced towards that side of the room at first, slightly annoyed that she hadn't been put somewhere private. When she did, her heart gave a massive leap.

It was Tim.

She wanted so badly to rush to him, to reassure herself that he was ok, but she was stuck in the frame. She shot a look at Gibbs, who was grinning slightly. He'd planned this, she just knew it.

"He's asleep, Abs. He's going to be just fine"

"His doctor said it was just exhaustion" Ducky chimed in "He'll have to stay for a day or so, for fluids and observation". At the mention of fluids, she noticed the IV bag attached to his bed for the first time.

"He needs sleep, Abs" Gibbs told her sternly "Don't pester him when he wakes up"

She nodded, not taking her eyes away from the other bed as they made their excuses and left the room.

...

Gibbs drove back to the Navy Yard, lost in thought. While Abby was being moved, McGee's doctor had caught him and updated them on his condition. He alternated between anger and compassion for the young agent. The doctor had told them that it appeared that McGee had neither eaten or slept for at least 3 days, which had led to his collapse. McGee was a reserved guy, but Gibbs didn't make the mistake of believing that his quiet nature made him any less complex. He knew that it was a combination of love, guilt, anger and determination that had brought McGee to this point, and he understood that motivation. That didn't stop him from being any less pissed off however. Part of him was angry with himself; he should have known that McGee wouldn't rest until he broke through the laptop's protective walls. But McGee still should have known better than to let his feelings cloud his judgement. He gave a self-deprecating smirk at that. He wasn't one to talk about that, come to think of it.

He shot a glance at the laptop that rested on Ducky's knees. The staff had given it to him, along with the rest of McGee's personal effects. He wanted to get it back to NCIS and see what, if anything, McGee had uncovered. He pressed the accelerator closer to the floor. Townell and Jacobi had hurt two of his people now. The bastards would pay for that.

...

She watched him sleep. Relief had her wide awake and thinking. This was her fault, at least partially. She shouldn't have asked him to stay with her. She known he wouldn't refuse, he never refused her anything. Look what she'd done to him! He was pale and drawn, his eyes so deeply shadowed they looked bruised, and he had an IV line feeding god knows what into his arm. She wanted him to wake up so she could apologise for putting him through so much this week. She'd seen the pain n he'd tried to mask when he'd explained that he'd found her, the guilt he felt at almost killing a defenceless man, the anger with which he'd attacked the problem of Townell's laptop. And now this.

And she wondered why she'd never seen how much he cared about her.

The rest of the team apparently had; Tony had said as much last night. They'd stopped dating years ago, their relationship changing to a deep friendship. She flirted with him occasionally, secretly loving it when he flirted back, but she'd never really thought about his feelings on the subject. He'd seemed to take their breakup so calmly; she hadn't considered the possibility of him still having feelings for her 6 years later. How had she not seen it? He was Timmy, her rock, unshakeable friend that she could always turn to. She knew he cared for her, but she'd always thought it was almost a sister-brother thing. Now she made herself ask if that was true. She'd known Tony and Gibbs for years longer than she'd known Tim. They were her substitute family, and she was closer to them than she was to her real family. Gibbs was like her dad; Tony like her elder brother. The thought of a romantic relationship with Tony was laughable. Sure, he was good looking guy, but she'd never been attracted to him. Tim, on the other hand... The thought of a romantic relationship with Tim made her smile as well, but it was a different smile. She'd buried those feelings when they broke up, although she'd never been able to contain the jealousy she'd felt when another woman paid attention to him. She'd put it down to wanting to protect him from being hurt, instead of the real reason. He was somehow, indefinably, hers.

...

He awoke suddenly. Something was wrong. He was lying in bed. Strange, he didn't remember leaving the hospital...

Abby. Frantically he went to push back the covers. Abby needed him. There was a strange, uncomfortable pulling sensation in the back of his hand; he didn't stop to consider what it was. He had to get back to the hospital

"I'm right here, Tim" her voice came from beside him. He wasn't aware he'd spoken aloud. He turned his head towards her voice. She was watching him from the bed beside the one he was in, an odd little smile on her face. He looked down at the uncomfortable spot on his hand, seeing an IV line taped to his skin. He grimaced.

"What happened?" he asked, facing her again

"You collapsed, Tim" her voice was gentle "The doctor said it was exhaustion, that you hadn't eaten or slept in days"

He remembered now; he'd been working on the laptop...

"Townell's laptop?"

"Gibbs has it" she told him, still with that small smile.

He breathed a sigh of relief and lay back. If Gibbs had the laptop, they'd hopefully have Townell very shortly, and the case part of this nightmare would be over. Abby would be on the injured list for a long time, but knowing that the people responsible were behind bars would make him feel a whole lot better.

"Timmy?" she sounded nervous now, prompting him to look at her again

"Yeah Abs?"

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Confused, he asked "Tell you what, Abs?"

"That you love me"

He stared at her in shock. He could feel himself paling. Who told her that?

"How- how do you know?" he croaked

"I overheard you and Tony... and you talk in your sleep, Tim". She sounded amused by that. He groaned

"So why didn't you ever tell me?" she pressed. He forced his sluggish mind to think quickly and came to the inescapable conclusion. He couldn't gloss over this; he had to tell her the truth.

"Would you have wanted to hear it if I did?" he replied

"Tim..."

"Think about it, Abby. We dated, you broke up with me. You became my best friend. You made it pretty clear that that's all you wanted from me" he could hear the pain in his own voice now. Damn it. He swallowed, trying for some self control before continuing "If I'd told you how I felt, that would have been the end of our friendship. I didn't want to lose you completely." He gave a bitter little laugh "Guess there's not much I can do about that now"

"You're wrong" she said softly "I broke up with you because I was scared, Tim, not because I didn't care. I wouldn't turn my back on my best friend just because you've got feelings for me, Tim. I've had feelings for you for years"

Stunned, he could only look at her. Had she really said what he thought she said?

"Abs-"

The moment was broken by the entrance of a nurse coming to check her patients vital signs, leaving them both relieved and disappointed.

**A/N: More casefic next chapter, I promise! F.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Inspiration finally struck. Please leave me a review! F**

Tony looked up in surprise as Gibbs re-entered the squad room and dumped a laptop on his desk. "Need all the information you can give me off that, DiNozzo"

"Boss! We didn't expect you back so soon. How's McGee?"

"Sleeping. The laptop?"

Tony signed the chain of evidence log, but wouldn't let his question drop. McGee was his friend, not just his teammate

"How is he, Boss?"

Gibbs sighed.

"He's fine, Tony. Exhausted and dehydrated. He'll be out in a couple days"

"Exhausted and dehydrated?" Tony echoed

"Well, yeah, DiNozzo, not sleeping or eating for three days will do that to ya" Gibbs sounded sarcastic "The laptop, remember?"

"Boss, if McGee didn't crack this thing..." he trailed off as Gibbs leant over his desk

"From what Abby tells me, he spent the whole of last night working on that damned computer. He looked happy about something to do with it right as they took her for that test. We need to find out what that was"

Tony swallowed.

"On it, Boss" he muttered

As he plugged in the laptop and waited for it to boot, he thought about what Gibbs had just told him. If he took Gibbs' meaning right, and he knew he had, this computer in front of him had used up the last little bit of energy McGee had to break it; and it had indirectly caused his collapse. Agent to the core, he literally hadn't rested til he solved it. Shaking his head, he turned his attention to the computer. You had to admire the Probie's dedication

Logging onto Windows was easy; McGee must have removed the password protection during his decryption. He wondered for a moment where to begin, then realised there was an icon sitting right in the middle of the desktop, away from anything else. It was labelled 'Evidence log'. It made sense; McGee knew he wasn't going to be able to work on the rest of this case, so he'd made it as easy as possible for his less geeky colleagues.

He opened the file the shortcut linked to, and scanned it quickly. His eyes grew wide as he realised the import of what he was reading. Scrolling back to the top of the page, he grabbed a notepad and started making notes. McGee had decrypted the mother lode.

"Boss, you need to see this..."

...

Half an hour later, Gibbs marched up the stairs, past the startled secretary, and into the Director's office. He slammed the papers he carried down on the desk.

"Gibbs" Vance looked up calmly, chewing on his usual toothpick "What can I do for you?"

"Jacobi was just a pawn" he snarled

"He stole millions of dollars from this Agency, Agent Gibbs" Vance reminded him

"He was just the tip of the iceberg, Leon. We found what we thought was his accomplice's laptop. Jacobi was double crossing Townell. Townell was behind it all" He paused before continuing

"Townell was stealing money from this Agency and diverting it to Al-Qaeda"

Vance was suddenly on his feet "You're sure?"

Gibbs gestured to the papers "He left the damned laptop behind. Agent McGee managed to get through his protection. Townell left logs of everything"

...

Downstairs in the bull pen, Tony and Ziva stood before the plasma, studying McGee's evidence log.

"Something's bugging me about this, Ziva. Why would he keep records like this, and then leave the laptop behind when he fled?"

"You are right; it does not make sense, Tony" Ziva agreed "Why keep records like this at all?"

"It was his insurance policy" Gibbs' voice came from above them. Together, he and the Director made their way quickly down the stairs

"He kept the records in case he was ever caught; having information like this on an Al-Qaeda cell meant he could negotiate a lighter punishment" the Director elaborated.

"So why leave it behind, Boss?" Tony questioned

"I don't think he left it willingly, DiNozzo"

Ziva shook her head

"There were no signs of a struggle" the meaning of that sunk in "So he left with someone he knew" Gibbs nodded.

"Gibbs, Townell's phone records showed several phone calls in the last few days to an address in Georgetown, including one around the time we found out about Abby's accident, and one around the time we arrested Jacobi"

"Grab your gear"

...

Silently they took position around the entrances of the small house in suburban Georgetown. The house was understated in a neighbourhood of quietly expensive homes. Nothing appeared outwardly sinister about the building. Once they were properly positioned, Gibbs gave the signal, kicking the door in

"Federal Agents!"

He and Tony quickly cleared the front rooms of the house, then heard Ziva calling out from the master bedroom towards the back of the house

"Gibbs!"

They moved quickly towards her voice. The sight that greeted them was not pretty. A body lay in the middle of the king size bed, eyes glazed. The two closely spaced wounds over his heart told their own story.

"Townell" Gibbs stated calmly, lowering his SIG.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I know I haven't posted on this in a few days, so here we go. Sorry the chapter is so short. More soon, I promise! Please review. F.**

Gibbs paced impatiently. It had only been 10 minutes or so since they'd discovered the body of Townell, but already it felt like hours. Time was a major factor; he didn't need Ducky to tell him that Townell's death had been recent; the body was still warm. So now he had a murderer on the run with the smallest of leads. They had two jobs to do now, and his team was seriously under strength. . He needed information, fast. But instead he was stuck on the phone with some probie back at the yard, trying to get results on a title search.

Tony and Ziva were outside, interviewing the neighbours on either side. They'd taped off the building, and as per usual the yellow crime scene tape had brought out the neighbourhood busybodies. He walked to the front door, gesturing to Tony

"Boss, neighbour says the house is owned by a young male, about 25 to 30 years old, of Middle Eastern appearance. They only moved in two weeks ago, and he keeps to himself, so they don't have his name. He drives a black SUV; neighbour thinks it's a Cherokee. Left here about an hour ago"

Gibbs nodded. Ziva came up to them, but before she could speak, the agent he still had on the other end of the phone started talking.

"I found it, Agent Gibbs. The house is owned by a Hamad Al-Kaziri, naturalised American citizen, Syrian by birth. Arrived here when he was 13, doesn't appear to have any living relatives-" Gibbs hung up the phone, cutting off the flow of unnecessary information.

"Ziva?"

"Next door neighbour knows the occupant as Ali. He is private, rarely socialises with anyone in the street. He drives a black Jeep Cherokee, license plate begins with 853. She saw him loading a small suitcase into the Cherokee before leaving here just over an hour ago"

"Put out a BOLO on that Cherokee, Ziva" she nodded and pulled out her cell.

"He's trying to flee" Gibbs mused out loud. Turning to Tony, he ordered

"Get Customs and Border Protection. Tell them to put a hold on Al-Kaziri's passport. They cannot let him leave the country"

"On it, Boss"

"The BOLO is out, Gibbs" Ziva informed him calmly

"Start processing the crime scene" he told her "Ducky should be here soon"

Tony spun back towards him

"Boss, Al-Kaziri passed through passport control at Dulles 15 minutes ago, bound for Beirut, and the flight is just boarding"

Gibbs yanked Tony's cell out of his hand

"This is Special Agent Gibbs. Al-Kaziri is wanted in connection with a terrorist group. Do not let him board that aircraft!"

"Got it, Agent Gibbs" he could hear the sound of running footsteps, then "Federal Agent! Stay where you are!" In the background he could hear passersby screaming. Then the agent came back on the line, panting slightly

"Suspect is in custody, Agent Gibbs. Thanks" he hung up

Gibbs tossed the phone back to Tony

"Did they get him?"

"Yup"

The ME van was pulling into the driveway. Gibbs strode off towards it, not bothering to hide the grin on his face.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: This is the last proper chapter, everyone. There will be an epilogue, which I'll try and have up in a day or two.**

**Thanks so much for sticking along for the ride; I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. F.**

McGee slept.

After their interrupted conversation earlier in the day, he'd barely been able to keep his eyes open. He'd tried to stay awake, but after he'd drifted off in the middle of a sentence she'd laughed at him and told him to sleep. It was trying to look after her that had put him here in the first place; the least she could do was make sure he slept.

Problem was, they really did need to talk. Hospitals weren't exactly the most private of places; the interruption of the nurse had proved that. But she was stuck here for a while, and this particular discussion couldn't wait that long. His health had to come first, obviously, but Abby wasn't known for her patience. Waiting for a chance to tell him she knew how he felt about her had been hard enough. Being effectively tied to the bed really wasn't helping with her boredom levels. Her work often included large periods of inactivity while she was waiting for test results or new evidence, but at least there she had something to do to distract herself. There was a limit to the amount of daytime television that she could stomach and she didn't even have anything interesting to read.

At least she had time to think about what Tim had said to her. Had they really spent years like this? Each wanting the other, but thinking they'd moved on? That they only had friendship left to them? They'd wasted so much time.

She turned her head, watching him sleep. No, the last few years hadn't been a waste. When they'd dated before, they'd wanted totally different things, and they hadn't really known each other. They'd had problems that they just didn't know how to solve. But they'd both changed a lot over the years. This time, she was determined to make things work. Now if he'd just wake up...

...

This time when he woke, he felt less like something the cat dragged in. The ache that total physical exhaustion had produced had ebbed a little, for which he was thankful. And he was pleasantly surprised to find that they'd taken the IV away while he slept. That had to be a good sign.

He felt himself being watched and turned his head on the pillow, meeting her clear green eyes. She'd been watching him sleep? He smiled at the sight of her

"Hey" he greeted her softly

"Hey yourself. Feel better?" she asked him

He pushed himself up into a half sitting position, laying his head back as the change in position made it swim unpleasantly

"A little" he admitted. He hadn't wanted to go to sleep when they had so much to talk about, but he hadn't been able to stop himself.

"How long was I out?"

"About 6 hours" she told him. He winced. That was one hell of a nap. "They came and took your IV out about an hour ago, you didn't even stir. They'll be back in about half an hour, I guess" She grimaced. Every time they came they took another blood test from her to check her liver function. She must be feeling like a pincushion by now.

He was glad that they had another half hour before another interruption like this mornings. He debated silently with himself for a moment about broaching the subject, and then decided to hell with it. He had to know.

"Abs? Did you mean what you said before? About having feelings for me?"

"Yeah, I did" she said quietly "I never stopped caring, Tim"

"So why did you break up with me?" he managed to keep the pain he'd felt at that breakup out of his voice this time

"Like I said before, I was scared. Being with you... you made me feel so much more than any guy I'd ever dated before, Tim. And I didn't know how to deal with that" She took a deep breath "I've dated my share of men since you, Tim, but no one has ever come close to making me feel that way"

He knew he was grinning at her words. The aches and the tiredness faded to nothing compared to the happiness he felt right now.

"I love you, Abby" he told her. Nothing else seemed fitting. He was unprepared for her reply

"I love you too, Tim"

She hadn't meant to say it, she'd only admitted to herself while she was watching him sleep that she loved him, but in that moment she just couldn't help it. She loved Tim. She watched him as he took in her words, loving the look of wonder that crossed his face. She'd never seen him look so happy.

"Where do we go from here, Abs?" he asked, still wearing the biggest grin she'd ever seen

"Well, I'm not going anywhere for a while" she gestured to the traction frame "And you'll be back at work in a few days"

"I'll be here every day, Abs. And once you get out, well, we'll take it one day at a time. Just promise me one thing?"

She gave him a questioning look

"You'll tell me if you get scared"

She nodded, smiling at him.

The nurse bustled into the room then, flicking the television to ZNN and turning the sound up

"Your boss said you'd want to see this" she told them as she left

They watched the news piece about the arrest of a terror suspect by the Customs Service in some confusion, neither understanding why Gibbs had wanted them to see it. The team hadn't been in touch with them since Gibbs had left earlier that morning. After the bulletin had ended, McGee's cell phone buzzed. The text message from Tony was short and to the point

"Townell's link to Al-Qaeda. It was us"

He showed it to Abby.

"We never get the credit, do we?"


	20. Epilogue

_3 weeks later..._

McGee took one last look around the lab, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. After he'd come back to work a little over a fortnight ago, Gibbs had assigned him to be Abby's replacement. He'd protested a little- he was no forensic scientist- but Gibbs had stood firm. He'd finally told McGee that Abby had refused to let anyone else take care of her lab. That had settled it. It had been a frenetic couple of weeks since Al- Kaziri's arrest. He'd been the kingpin on the US end, but Townell's records had implicated so many more people. The case had spiralled into a massive inter agency effort involving NCIS, the FBI, Army CID, Homeland Security, the CIA and even ICE and Customs. Almost every federal investigative agency. Vance had assigned them the task of investigating every 'person of interest' that fell within their jurisdiction. He'd been swamped with forensic tests, necessitating a lot of referring to 'Abby's Lab for Dummies' and a lot more phone calls to her at the hospital. He'd ended up with increased respect for her ability and intelligence.

But his time as the interim lab tech was done. He'd probably still be helping her in the lab a lot, as the walking cast they'd given her didn't exactly allow her much mobility; she had plaster almost up to her hip. But she came home from the hospital today, and he seriously doubted that she'd consent to taking any more time off. He picked up the keys from the lab table and headed out to the parking lot. He was stuck driving her hearse for today; there was no way she'd fit that cast in his Porsche. He felt slightly ridiculous driving the thing, but he didn't have much of a choice.

He walked down the hallway to her room for the final time, greeting most of the nursing staff by name. He'd been here every night since his release, and he'd gotten to know the staff, at least by sight. Abby was waiting for him, her bag on the bed with her already signed release papers. She was so excited to be finally getting out of there; he couldn't blame her. She'd tried not to complain, but he knew how bored she'd gotten.

"Hey Abs" he greeted her "Ready to leave?"

"You have no idea, Tim" she struggled to her feet, the cast and crutches making it awkward. He watched her, wanting to help but knowing that it made it more difficult. Instead he grabbed her stuff off the bed.

...

"Home or the Yard?" he asked once she'd gotten comfortably settled in the hearse. She rolled her eyes

"The Yard, of course"

He grinned at her. This had been a running debate when he'd visited her last night. He'd maintained that she didn't need to go back to work straight away, she'd protested that she would go just as crazy with boredom at home as in the hospital. As per usual, she'd won. Truth was, he understood. His enforced absence had irked him, especially as he knew how busy they were, and Abby had been out for a lot longer.

He'd also lost the debate about her staying with him for a while. He understood that, too. While he knew she loved him, they'd kept their burgeoning relationship low key; they hadn't even had a date yet, though that was set for tonight. He'd made the offer without ulterior motives, knowing from his own experience how difficult managing such an awkward cast was. She'd been insistent that she wanted to sleep in her own bed, and he really couldn't argue with that.

...

Gibbs, Ducky and Palmer were waiting for them when they exited the elevator on the main floor of NCIS headquarters. She greeted them all with a characteristic Abby-hug, talking a mile a minute before she looked around and noticed the absence of two of the team.

"Where's Tony and Ziva?" she asked

"Right here, Abs" Tony said from behind the little group. He and Ziva had clearly been in the field; they both had their backpacks slung over their shoulders. Abby spun to hug them, overbalancing from the cast. Tony caught her as her crutches clattered to the ground. Stifling a grin, McGee picked them up and handed them to her. He could see this becoming a common task in the next few weeks. He caught Gibbs' look and nodded. Tony and Ziva must have deposited another batch of evidence to process in the lab. He'd head downstairs and give Abby a chance to catch up with everyone.

He was examining a fibre under the microscope when she entered

"I wondered where you'd gotten to" she commented. He looked around and smiled at her

"The sooner I get this stuff processed, the sooner we can leave" he told her "Here, sit" he pulled her spare chair over so she could get off the crutches "Tell me what you think this is..."

...

Abby sighed wearily as she got ready for bed. It was wonderful to be back in her own apartment with its absence of hospital smell. It had been an exhausting day, and she was more tired than she'd cared to admit, though she knew Tim had picked up on it. The thought of him made her smile. Their date had gone brilliantly, even better than she'd expected. Ever the gentleman, he'd made sure she was ok after dropping her home, eventually leaving about an hour ago.

She unwrapped the last of the plastic she'd wrapped around her cast to stop it getting wet and ran the brush through her damp hair, then shuffled into her bedroom. She wanted nothing better than to curl up in a comfortable bed-well, coffin- and go to sleep.

Half an hour later, she was still balanced on her crutches beside her coffin, frowning. She'd tried every angle she could think of, and she still hadn't managed to get herself and the bulky cast into the coffin. To make things worse, she was starting to get the idea that if she managed to get into the coffin, getting out in the morning would be another story.

Admitting defeat, she picked up her cell phone and hit the speed dial.

"Tim, I don't suppose that offer to stay is still open..."


End file.
